Pixi

Bushy Brows and Soft Matte Lips: Drugstore Beauty Strikes Again!

May 27th, 2020 by Karen 18 Comments

Covergirl So Saturated Palette in Reverence k closeup — Bushy brows, babe!

If you’ve ever experimented with the bushy brow look you probably already know this: there’s a fine line between “full and lush” and “full-on cray.” Sometimes ya unintentionally cross that line (whoops!), and sometimes you don’t… The latter happened to me today when I stumbled onto this bangin’ bushy brow combo.

Budget beauty brows

Both products are from the drugstore, and to that I say, “Huzzah!” (Sorry, I’ve been binge-watching The Great on Hulu for the past few days.)

HUZZAH!

The two things: Covergirl Easy Breezy Brow in the shade Medium ($9.49) and Maybelline Tattoo Studio Brown Pen in Soft Brown ($7.59).

Easy Breezy Brow Gel is an intensely tinted gel loaded with color, and it dries to a super stiff hold. If you’re a fan of the awesome Hourglass Arch Brow Gel, this Covergirl product is practically a drugstore dupe.

Covergirl So Saturated Palette in Reverence k tee — I’m a makeup nerd and I’m proud of it! Makeup Nerd Tee from connorclaire.com (Yup, that’s my store. Named it after my boss, hahaha.)

It deposits tons of color and pushes brow hairs upwards and outwards (especially those on the inside/closer to the nose), so if you’re going for fluffy, full brows with defined hairs, it’s perfect. Just be sure to remove any and all excess gel from the brush before you use it, because this stuff is intense!

After running the brow gel through my brows, I fill the sparse spots with the Tattoo Studio Pen, which like because it has juuust enough pigment, so it doesn’t make your brows look “blocky” or overly filled.

Oh, and if you’re feeling adventurous, it also doubles as a pen for drawing fake freckles. 😊

Covergirl So Saturated Palette in Reverence k front closeup — Wherever you are, and whatever you’re doing today, I hope you’re having a good one!

A lip oil hack for soft matte lips

Speaking of products you can use in different ways…if you have a good lip oil sitting around, try mixing a little into your favorite matte liquid lipstick for a custom lip color with a soft matte finish.

Just dab a bit of both the liquid lipstick and lip oil on the back of your hand, mix them together with a finger or a brush, and pat that blended beauty combo on your lips.

I did it for this look with Pixi liquid lipsticks and a Covergirl lip oil for a finish just shy of matte. I also dabbed a tiny bit of highlighter on my Cupid’s bow to add contrast to the soft matte finish.
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Product Spotlight: Pixi Eye Reflection Shadow Palette in Natural Beauty

January 22nd, 2020 by Karen 4 Comments

pixi natural beauty palette review 2 — I’m lovin’ this eye palette by Pixi.

I came to realize the Pixi Natural Beauty palette was money — MO-NAAAY (a.k.a. awesome) – at Costco last weekend when I caught a glimpse of my eye makeup in the store’s harsh overhead lighting and was, like, “Dang! Did Sir John just spend two hours on me? Why do my eyes look so good? What sorcery is happening!?”

Here’s why this palette stands out.

It contains a bevy of cool-toned matte browns for carving out deeper-set eyes, smoking out your lids, filling in your brows, or lining your lash lines. For these tasks and more, this flexible neutral got ‘chu, boo-boo.

The secret sauce is the pigment. There’s not a milligram too little or too much. Coupled with the soft, easily scoot-able formula, and blending becomes beyond easy. You can make a lot of mistakes along the way with this one, and you can correct them very quickly because the colors are easy to sheer, so whatever you end up with, your lids look good.

And they look good all day long, too. Yes, the shadows stay put!

The smattering of shiny golds, beiges and bronzes is an added bonus. Press a shade or two on your lids for a quick hit of glitter, or apply with a wet brush along your lash line to open cramped lids.

I love this palette for days when I want something easy, breezy.

If you like to do simple everyday neutral/nude looks, or if you use and love palettes like Tartlette in Bloom or Estée Lauder Defiant Nude, this palette is in the same wheelhouse.

I do have to point out one thing, though. The eyeshadow powder formula tends to kick up a lot of grains, so just be sure to tap off your brush first. It’s not a big deal for me, but if you’re a stickler for that kind of thing, you might want to pass.

You can find it at Target for $24 or online.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Layering Bronze Eyeshadow on Top of Black Liner To Correct Wonky Liner

January 13th, 2020 by Karen 15 Comments

Oh, my hooded lid ladies… I know you can feel me on this. There are days when my upper lash liner turns out perfectly…but then there are those other days when it does not. 😬

And those days are baaaaad.

You know how it is. One minute, you’re applying your liner, oblivious to the disaster about to strike. Next thing you know, your liner has taken over half your lid. If you have hooded lids like I do, it also makes your eyes look smaller.

So, that’s what initially happened with this particular look here. Started out, I was in the mood for black cat eyeliner, but I was rushing, and things got out of hand quickly.

My liner was too thick, and the wings didn’t match. My eyes looked teeny, tiny.

Because I didn’t have enough time to remove everything and start again from scratch, I recalled the trick I’ve been using lately with light pencil liner to make my lids look less hooded, and I employed a similar technique to fix this mishap.

Here’s what I did.

I dipped a flat angled brush into a sparkly bronze eyeshadow, wet that brush head with a setting spray, and blended it directly on top of the black liner from the inner corner to about three fourths of the way out.

Why?

Well, just like how applying a light-colored liner on the upper lash line opens up the eye, layering a bronze on top of black also makes lids look more pronounced and larger than they really are.

Next, I cleaned the brush I used, dipped it into a dark brown, and blended that on the outer corner of the black liner to soften it and create the illusion of a little more lift.

I didn’t fully appreciate just how much larger it made my lids look until I got to Costco and started trying on prospective eyeglasses…

I took a pic of my face without frames so I could compare it to pics of myself wearing some of the new frames I was interested in (because I’m nerdy like that), and when I saw my makeup in the harsh overhead Costco lighting, I realized — OH, SNAP! — this eye makeup was actually working for me.

Yeah…I’m definitely gonna do this again, but, like, on purpose. LOL! 🙂

Key makeup worn in this look

Eyes: Pixi Endless Sikly Eye Pen in Black Noir, Pixi Eye Reflection Shadow Palette in Natural Beauty, MAC Omega and Brun (eyebrows), Chanel Dimensions de Chanel, MAC Brow Gel

Base: Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation in Honey Bronze, MAC Strobe Cream in Pinklight, Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow in Fair-Medium, MAC Sur Blush

Lips: MAC Boldly Bare lip pencil, MAC Candy Box Lipglass

This made me laugh so hard!

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The $20 Pixi Dimensional Eye Creator Kit, a Collab With Weylie Hoang

April 5th, 2018 by Karen 11 Comments

pixi dimensional eye creator palette — Livin’ that neutral palette life 24/7

Makeup brands hooking up with bloggers and social media “influencers” is nothing new these day, but it’s nice to see a collab with someone I’ve met who was super nice in person and real, in this case YouTuber Weylie Hoang.

I met her a few years back at a Too Faced event, and she was kind and sweet, so GO WEYLIE! Congrats on your collaboration with Pixi. 🙂

Isn’t this cute?

pixi dimensional eye creator lids — I’m wearing two shades from the left side of the palette — the matte golden brown in my crease and the shimmery plummy bronze on my lids. I lined my upper lash line with the black pencil, and then did the flick with the black liquid liner.

It’s a Pixi two-piece $20 kit with a neutral eyeshadow palette and a black liner, and it’s called the Dimensional Eye Creator. So basics, which I appreciate.

Weylie wears lots of natural eye looks, and you can see that in her color choices. There are six powder eyeshadows, three mattes, three shimmers, and a dual-ended pencil liner with a twist-up pencil on one end and a felt-tip liquid liner on the other.

pixi dimensional eye creator lids front — Cheeks are MAC Melon Pink (from Padma! I know, I’m like a blush broken record lately.), and the lips are a pink shade from the Dulce’s Lip Candy Palette, also by Pixi.

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Empties

September 14th, 2017 by Karen 10 Comments

I stepped into my bathroom to take a shower the other day — because, apparently, I shower three times a day now because I’m so freaking sweaty — and discovered that a bunch of products I used all summer long have all gone empty at the same time.

Thing is, I use things items practically every day, so you’d think I would have noticed sooner that my industrial-sized bottle of honey mango shower gel was running low, but nooOOOOooo. As if out of nowhere, it’s empty.

I’m curious — what are some of your recent empties/things you’ve run out of lately? I’m kind of a voyeur who loves hearing about things people have finished to the last drop.

Here are mine…

1. Alba Botanica Very Emollient Bath & Shower Gel in Honey Mango Replenishing Moisture for Extra Dry Skin ($12.99)

When I got this 32-oz. bottle for $12.99 at Target, it was for both me AND El Hub. So it wasn’t just for me! It doesn’t contain parabens or pthalates, and the light mango scent smells divine when I’m lathering up, but it doesn’t linger on the skin, which my husband likes (I guess he doesn’t want to smell like mangoes at work). I always feel squeaky clean after using it.

Now it’s empty.

2. Caudalie Nourishing Body Lotion ($30)

An old fave from years ago that I rediscovered earlier this summer. It’s so good that I seriously considered cutting open the bottle with a knife to extract the last drops, but I decided that that was probably a bad idea… I didn’t want to accidentally cut off my pinky.